Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2) is designed for cohort identification, allowing users to perform an enterprise-wide search on a de-identified repository of health information to determine the existence of a set of patients meeting certain inclusion or exclusion criteria. Accessing clinical data with i2b2 can help investigators determine study feasibility, identify potential participants for recruitment, perform simple data analyses of de-identified patient data and explore hypotheses for clinical studies/trials.
Here’s what makes i2b2 a practical data query tool for researchers:
- The data is robust. Researchers can query 18 data types from over 1 million patients.
- i2b2 is ‘self-service’. Researchers can access results independently and in real time.
- Data sets are downloadable, so researchers can immediately view limited data sets in Excel if they wish.
- Training and one-on-one assistance is readily available. Not only is on-site training available twice a month, but there is also an Informatics team in place to guide researchers with queries.
Patrick Frazier, a Research Nurse Manager for the Department of Medicine Clinical Research Enterprise at UAB considers i2b2 an invaluable resource to his research team. “We have been able to identify patients for retrospective data analysis, prospective clinical trials, and even identify patient populations outside of our typical areas to help drive collaborations with other groups around campus.”
Patrick also utilizes the i2b2 experts. “While the tool itself is great, the people running it are even better. Running these queries was a totally new skillset for me. Dale Johnson and Ayme Miles have been so incredibly helpful--they are always able and willing to ensure my query secures all the data I actually need while eliminating extraneous records. Every time I work with them, I am impressed at how quickly they can help me get the data I need.”
The next i2b2 training opportunity is Thursday, November 21. Learn more and register here.